On August 21, India’s parliament effectively shut the doors to the $4 billion worth Real Money Gaming (RMG) industry, primarily concerned with the rising cases of gambling addictions reported across the country. Even though gambling is illegal in India, these companies expoited loopholes in the law, reasoning that their games were based on ‘skill’ rather than ‘chance’.
With a rare consensus across party lines, the politicians aimed to uproot the cause- rather than address the solution of the challenge- gambling addiction. These RMG apps were accused of using coercive tactics to get people into a vicious cycle of debt and gambling, with the gamified experience and a false hope of winning back the money pushing many into a debt hole.
A problem solved?
The netas may be smarting at the swiftness of the move, but uprooting a single weed doesn’t mean others won’t find a way to emerge. Even though many legal RMG apps have been forced to lay off almost their entire teams, many fear these games could re-emerge indirectly under the regulators noses, through camouflaged, hidden means, taking advantage of the internet’s anonymity.
Experts argue that the ban will not have the intended effect, even as such RMG games will continue to be easily accessible despite most of the local companies shutting down.
“The usage of VPNs and other possibilities are still open. The areas related to cybercrimes are only at a developing stage — both policing and investigation,” Akhil KM, a legal expert from Kerala explains the practical difficulties with the challenge of gambling.
Crypto tokens- the replacement for Rupee based gambling
Addicts will do anything to find a way to get their gambling fix- the Gambling Act doesn’t address that. VPNs are readily available, and so are anonymous forums like Telegram. Industry insiders are almost certain that the industry is all set to go underground- just like how liquor is easily available in famously ‘dry’ states of Gujarat and Bihar.
“Banning popular formats rarely eliminates the demand. It simply redirects them. Players in search of the same thrill are very likely to migrate toward offshore or unregulated platforms, which operate beyond the reach of Indian law,” Dr Sriranjani Mokshagundam, Professor of Management at BGS B-School in Bangalore, warns.
Feeding the vicious habit
Most of the gamers who got into the habit were drawn by the promotional messages that kept popping up, and many think this is going to continue, with the games taking on a new avatar to skirt the law.
“If you’re addicted, you’ll keep playing no matter what,” Mukesh, a commerce student says. Even if these apps are banned, the promotional notifications were designed to continue to feed the habit, forcing him to seek expert help to come out of the vicious cycle.
Game over? Not Yet
Even as leading gaming companies have been forced to scale down- or explore new avenues to continue their operations, the hundreds of other companies do not have the power to quit. Rather, the consistent demand from addicts will push them to alternate, illegal operations while using the shroud of invisibility provided by the internet.
They can do this by transitioning from using Rupees as the gambling reward to virtual tokens, all the while being available while domiciled overseas. Cryptocurrencies offer a grey area to these gaming companies, who can partner with cryptocurrency exchanges to convert real money into virtual tokens, with little regulatory oversight.
It may be too early to understand how the implications of the ban have affected gaming addicts, but this rushed effort to address the problem may not have the desired results. How will this turn out eventually? Only time will tell.
